


Valentine's Challenge 2

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 09:24:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9715223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks





	

Walking into the conference room, head buried in a file, Hotch sensed more than saw the plate of cookies set out in the middle of the table.  Leaning down without looking up, he snatched one and started to take a bite, hesitating as his brain processed the peripheral sight of a cat shape.  He pulled the cookie back from his mouth and looked at it.  The cookie was in the shape of a pleasant looking cat with the words ‘Future Cat Lady’ piped on top.

Finally looking down at the tray on the table, he saw there was an assortment of Valentine-looking cookies that weren’t actually normal Valentines.  There were hearts that had pretty non-romantic messages on them, coffee mugs and hearts decorated as pizzas.  Clearly whoever had made them wasn’t feeling in a particularly loving mood this year. 

“You like?”

Hotch turned to the doorway by the TV monitor, cookie still held up to him mouth forgotten, and found Garcia leaning against the jamb with a box in her hand.  He gave her a warm smile.  “They’re…different.”

Her face lit up and she stepped toward him, “I figured since we’re all single this year, we needed cookies that were appropriate.” 

He looked her over from head to toe.  Despite the sentiments on the cookies that gave the impression someone didn’t like Valentine’s Day, she was head to toe in the holiday spirit.  Her high heels were shimmery red as was her very short skirt.  She had on a pink top with its usual plunging neckline and he could see it was covered in cheerful hearts under her red sweater because she was always chilly in her office.  Atop her head, bouncing out from the pigtails of curls were dancing hearts smiling from their perches on bouncing springs.  She had glitter in her makeup around her eyes and her ever-changing glasses were pink and red.    “Wait.  Everyone’s single?”

She nodded, “So I have been told.  So I made a different kind of cookie for everyone and then we can all share.  The cats are for Emily because she has Sergio.  I like to tease her that she’s going to end up a cat lady.  Reid told her that if she does, she better not die at home because the cats will eat her.”

Hotch frowned at the cookie in his hand, suddenly it looked a lot less appetizing.  “Really?”

“That’s what Reid said.”  She shrugged, taking his word as fact.  “The pastel hearts are JJ’s because Will had a thing for buying them for her because he thought it was romantic.  She hated those things.  She’ll like these much more.”  She pointed to the lips, which were stitched shut and slightly off-putting to Hotch, “Those are for Morgan,” she moved to the pizza, “those are for Rossi because it was the only Italian-like thing I could make into a cookie.” 

He grinned, “Coffee is for Reid then?”

“Yes!  And he’s going to be tickled pink when he sees them.  Don’t tell him, but I was able to mix coffee into the icing so he’ll get the caffeine kick along with his sugar.”

 “Just what he needs.”  Hotch had visions of his youngest bouncing around the office for the remainder of the day.  “And those hearts?”

“Oh, those are mine.”  She plucked one up and took a bite.

Hotch forced himself to keep a smile plastered on his face.  He didn’t want to take it personally that it appeared she’d made everyone but him cookies.  So often because of his job he had to be excluded from their fun or he opted to be excluded because of propriety, but he really did enjoy spending time with them.  Aside from Jack, they were the closest thing he had to family. 

He hadn’t realized his smile had faded as he stood staring at the display of cookies until a box suddenly materialized in his slightly misty view.  A soft hand on his arm had him taking a deep breath and looking up to meet blue eyes.

“These are yours.”  She pressed the box into the hand that had at some point laid down the file.  Her head tilted as she studied him, “You didn’t think I would forget you, did you?”  Her voice had softened from its cheerful exuberance of before, “Hotch?”

“It’s not a big deal, Garcia.  I know all of you have your thing and sometimes it doesn’t include me.  It’s the price paid for being the boss.”  He looked away from her eyes that could always read him so well and glanced down at the cookies in the box.  They were in the shape of hearts, blue in place of pink and declared ‘Best Dad’ on each one.  He opened his mouth to speak again when noise from the other doorway drew their attention.

The rest of the team filed in, squeals of delight rang out as JJ and Emily spotted the cookies and laughter followed as the men read them.  Garcia turned to her friends to explain about the cookies as everyone picked one to enjoy.  No one ever turned down Garcia’s cookies.

Hotch finally worked on the cat cookie he’d been holding as he watched the others enjoy the treat.

“You’re going, right?”

He looked up at the question, “What?”

Dave shook his head as his distracted friend, “Dinner.  You’re going to be there, right?”

“I, uhh,”

“Yes.”  Garcia materialized again at his side, “Yes he is coming and we will all have lots of fun.”  When Hotch still looked confused, she elaborated.  “Em and Jay and I had planned a ‘no men’ date but then the guys said they were all single and so it’s a whole group thing now.  We’re headed to a place in Old Town Alexandria, down by the river.”

JJ walked over to her friend, “We’ll go out tonight and have fun, but then we have to get back to work in the morning.  I’ve been on the phone all day with a Sheriff in Iowa.”

“Ugh,” Garcia frowned.  “Really?  Can’t people just not be bad for a day or two?”

“Well, I’m headed out right at five, Emily’s coming with me.  We’ll meet you at your place since we’re all coming from the same direction.”  JJ spoke directly to her friend.

==

Garcia gathered the files she’d been working on, stacked by degree of need, and collected her purse and other bags before double-checking her systems were shut down and pulling her door shut.  As she walked, she was mentally going through her head what she wanted to wear for the evening.  Not paying attention to her surroundings, she entered her boss’s office to deposit the files, getting all the way to his desk, she looked up.  “You’re still here!”

Looking up from where his head was rested on one had as he wrote with the other, he smiled slightly at her surprise, “Yes, I am.  I think everyone else is gone though.  Why’re you still here?”

“I’m just leaving.”  She dropped the stack of files on the corner of his desk. 

“Well, good night then.”  He turned back to his work.

Garcia got as far as the doorway before she stopped again, “Why aren’t you headed home?”

“What?”

She waved toward the work on his desk, “Why are you still here?”  Her question was soft.

“I hadn’t made any plans and I know you were just being polite since Dave brought it up earlier, so… work it is.  I’ll head out and grab dinner in a bit.  I won’t stay all night, Garcia.  Don’t worry about me.”

“But…”  She hesitated on the edge of her thought, unsure. “I do.”

“You do what?”

“Worry.  You know what?  Come with us?  It’s wasn’t a pity thing, including you. I had booked the table to include all of us but now it’s a dinner for everyone to enjoy being out with each other without being limited to needing to be in a relationship or the pressure of what might come after a Valentine’s Day date.”  She stopped and looked at him, blushing as her own words sank in, and noticed the humor in his eyes.  “Well?”

He set his pen down.  “Where should I meet you?”

==

Emily was on the couch, bare feet up, watching Penelope scurry around her apartment finishing getting ready.  “Pen!  You’re taking too long!”

“I’m almost ready and we’re waiting for one more!”  She called from the back. “Do you see my red heels out there?”

“Umm.”  JJ looked under the table, “Strappy sandals?”  She called back.

“Yes!”

“They’re out here!” 

When someone knocked on the door, Garcia shouted, “Can one of you get that?  I’m about done!”

Emily grumbled good naturedly and headed for the door, pulling it open.  “Hotch!”

He ducked his head, nervous but unsure why.  “Garcia insisted I tag along.”

She waved him in, “She’s almost ready.”

“You hope!”  JJ added from under the table where she was fishing out the shoes.  She stood and turned around, “Hotch!”

“I, uh, she told me to come.”  He shoved his hands in his pockets, unsure what to do with them. 

Emily brushed passed and into the bedroom, “Hey, Pen?  Hotch is here.”  She found her friend in the bathroom.  “Are you ready?”

“Yep!”  She stood, “Just need shoes.” 

==

Once at the restaurant, Hotch started to ask how they’d managed good reservations like that until JJ shushed him, shaking her head with eyes wide.  He decided he didn’t really want to know.  The three women regaled him with stories of their nights out, most of which involved Reid or Morgan usually along as well until Morgan arrived without the other members of their team. 

JJ had pressed Morgan for an explanation but all he knew was both men had said something came up and they couldn’t make it.

Bouncing excitedly in her seat, Garcia insisted JJ tell about the fake FBI agent who tried to pick them up and then followed it up with a story of her own about an officer who once thought when she was trying to carjack her own car when she’d accidentally locked her keys inside.  The man hadn’t believed her FBI ID was real and tried to take her into custody until Morgan, who’d been on his way, turned up.

Emily shared stories of travelling with her mother and the times guys underestimated her when they got a bit handsy.

Hotch was amused and floored in turns about some of the things they shared as food and drink flowed freely.  It’s been a long time since he’d laughed and simply relaxed so much.

“Hey!”  Garcia suddenly exclaimed causing everyone else to look up, “I just remembered, I had been doing some monitoring and I think Baby Genius and Rossi might not be separately otherwise occupied tonight.”

“What!”  Emily coughed around a bite of her cake.

“Proof!”  JJ demanded.

Hotch frowned.

“Well, Reid has been logging different hours lately and so has Rossi.  Reid working less and Rossi working more.  They always come and go within thirty minutes of each other.  Never more.  Occasionally would be coincidence, but it’s been going on for months.”

“And you haven’t tracked their phones yet?”  Emily teased.

“I don’t actually like doing that to you guys!  I tease, but we all need our own lives.”

The women chattered about a plan to get some answers, heads together as they giggled, trying to draw Morgan into the speculation.  They failed to notice Hotch pull out his phone and tap something out on it.  When the phone pinged, they all looked up.  He tilted the screen and grinned before tucking it away.

“What has you so smiley?”  Garcia leaned in.

“I have the answer you’re looking for.”  He took a long sip of his remaining wine, hiding a grin.

Her jaw dropped a little, “What’d you do? Ask?”

“Yep.”

“And one of them you told you?”  She asked incredulously.

“Yep.”  His eyes danced at her surprise, “I am an excellent interrogator, you know.”

“So what was the answer?”  JJ prodded.

“I’m not saying.  You figure it out.”  His grin spread across his face.

She turned and exchanged a look with Emily who was on Hotch’s other side.

His smile fell, “JJ?” 

Her grin turned almost feral as her hands shot out to grab his bicep.

Before he could react, Emily had his other arm with one hand and was reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket, lifting out his phone with disturbing ease.  “Hey!  I’m pretty sure that’s insubordination!”  He yelped.

“Not tonight it’s not!”  Garcia laughed, palming the phone from her friend.

Morgan just laughed and shook his head.

“Passcode?”  Emily started to ask.

“I’ve got it already, Em.”  The bubbly blonde waved her off.  “Last message is from…. Dave!  We could have guessed.  Oh lordy, that man has some snark when you press his buttons, now doesn’t he!”  She typed on the device.

“What’re you doing?  What are you telling him?”  He made a token effort at trying to snatch his phone back but sort of wanted to see how what she was doing would play out.  “Garcia.”

“Wait.  Look, he _is_ with Reid.”  She flashed the screen to the other women. The phone buzzed again, she tapped the message and the squeaked, dropping the phone on the tabletop.

“What?”  JJ started to pick it up.

“No! Jay, don’t look!”

“Why not?”

“I asked in what since he was with Reid and he… he sent a picture.  He sent a picture and our little Baby Genius isn’t as little as we like to think and he most definitely isn’t a baby but that wasn’t all.”  She was waving her hands over her face.

“What, Garcia?”  Emily tried to get a look at the screen.

“It was a selfie!”

Hotch couldn’t help himself, he tossed his head back and laughed heartily.

==

Garcia guided her car back into her parking spot and cut the engine.  In the darkness JJ climbed out of the front seat and headed for her car.   Emily, who’d gotten a ride to Garcia’s anyway from JJ, had caught a ride home with Morgan.

“Wait!”  Hotch shut the door and went to follow her, “I’ll walk you over really quick.”

“I’ll be fine, Hotch, I’m armed.”  JJ laughed as she caught him trying to work out exactly _where_ she was carrying a gun.  “Walk Pen in, I’m only two rows over, you can watch me from here.  I promise I’m good at kicking ass all on my own.  And you’re only going to be a shout away.”  She started to walk away.

He nodded, blushing slightly in the darkness at his overly strong need to protect them all despite knowing they could all protect themselves.

JJ saw him duck his head in embarrassment and walked back to him, “It was fun tonight, I’m glad you came out with us.  Have a good night Aaron.”

“Drive safe, see you bright and early in the morning.”

She nodded and waved before turning and walking away.

Offering his arm to her, Garcia looped a hand through, giggling, and they walked inside.  “Thanks for setting this up and thanks for the cookies.”

“You’re welcome.”  Stopping to unlock her door, she looked over her shoulder, “We never forget you, you know.”

He gave he a curious look.

“Earlier today.  I saw it.  You thought you’d been left out.  I’m sorry for making you think that.”  She stood up on tiptoes and pecked a kiss to his cheek.  “Now, go home and spoil that little boy of yours.”

“Good night, Penelope.”

“Night, Aaron.”

 


End file.
